Assignment 2 - Submission Required
1. Choosing Your Topic
In the previous lesson, you were asked to come out with two research topics as the candidates for your class project. You may have been trying to decide which one you should choose. Do you feel both of them are interesting, and have hard time deciding which one you would go for? Choosing a research topic is sometimes a trade-off process. In addition to choose a topic that you are interested in doing, choosing a topic that is doable is equally important. The following are some questions that, hopefully, can help you to make an informed decision. Please be aware that you will need to complete the project within this class’s timeframe.
1. What needs to change? (who, what, when, & where of the situation you want to change)
2. What types of change are required?
3. Whose support is needed?
4. How is commitment to be built?
5. How is resistance to be managed?
Your assignment: Report the topic that you choose to purse and discuss why you choose this one, pros and cons. (You do not need to report your comparison process.)
2. Envisioning Your Project
Jack Whitehead (1985) suggested a simple representation of how the process of action research feels:
1. I experience a problem when some of my educational values are negated in my practice;
2. I imagine a solution to my problem;
3. I act in the direction of the solution;
4. I evaluate the outcomes of my actions;
5. I modify my problems, ideas and actions in the light of my evaluations.
When we transform this process into a diagram, we, then, get the above simple model of action research. This model captures the major steps of action research. As we know from the readings, action research is a cyclical, not linear, process. It is also a “learning-by-doing” process in which the researchers keep planning, implementing, evaluating, and re-planning an action in order to get the desired results. This model gives us a simplified overview of the process. Before you actually start conducting your action research project, you can use this model to envision it. The process of envisioning your project can help you to get an overview of the project and be prepared for the incoming work.
Your assignment: Please describe briefly the problem you experienced (What needs to change?), how you will solve the problem (Your action/solution?), how you will act on your solution (action implementation), and how you will evaluate the outcome of your action (evaluation).
Be aware that the purpose of this assignment is to help you think about your project ahead of time. You can definitely adjust it later when you learn more about action research.
3. Type of Your Project
Action research can be done individually or collaboratively. The father of action research, Kurt Lewin, identified three types of action research: 1) First-Person action research, 2) Second-Person action research, and 3) Third-Person action research.
In the educational setting,
- First-Person action research usually involves one teacher studying his/her own classroom to better understand his/her own behaviors, attitudes, practices, or context. The goal is often personal change. If you want to know more about first-person action research, please readhttp://distributedresearch.net/blog/2008/04/27/first-person-action-research
- Second-Person action research is collaborative and aims to better understand the issues or phenomena of a group. The goal of second-person action research is often to improve the dynamics of a group of interrelated individuals, such as a teacher team. For example, you may consider discuss the problem of your students with other teachers to get their insights or get other teacher involved in planning your action. Then this is a Second-Person action research. If you want to know more about second-person action research, please read Second-Person Action Research
- The Third-Person action research studies a phenomenon or issue more globally to develop a generalization about the issue’s causes or the effect of solutions across varied settings.
Among these three purposes, the first two types action research fit better with current trend of action research because - “generalization to other persons, settings, or situations is of minimal importance” to action research (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2009, p19).
Your assignment: Please state briefly, do you plan to conduct a first-person action research project or a second-person action research project? How?
Submission Guideline: Please complete your assignment in Microsoft Word. At the top of the paper type "The Process of Action Research", underneath that include your name, email address, and the date. Save the file as "Your PID_AR_process" and upload it to the assignment page.